


Coffee-Cats-Home

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Cats, Emotional Manipulation, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Homeless Neil Josten, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 05:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20204320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Neil slumped over and cradled his head in his hands.“Sir, look at me.  Sir?” the irritating voice continued from above Neil’s head.  “It’s company policy.  No animals of any kind in this coffee shop.”Neil and his cat lose a home. But they find a better one.





	Coffee-Cats-Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fuzzballsheltiepants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzballsheltiepants/gifts).

> Written for the AFTG exchange with prompts including fake dating, coffee shop au, and anything with cats.

Neil slumped over and cradled his head in his hands. 

“Sir, look at me. Sir?” the irritating voice continued from above Neil’s head. “It’s company policy. No animals of any kind in this coffee shop.”

Neil looked up at the barista through tired, burning eyes. “You didn’t even know she was here. She’s a good cat. She isn’t bothering anyone.”

“It’s for health and safety reasons,” the barista, or Jack as it said on his nametag, continued. “And besides, you’ve been in here for five hours and you bought one cup of tea. It’s not just the cat I’m kicking out.”

“See, five whole hours and you had no idea King was even here,” Neil protested. “Can I at least wait out the rain?”

“I will sic Andrew on you,” Jack hissed. “I doubt you want that.”

Neil looked over to the counter. A small but well built blond stood behind it, face impassive. He was probably taller than the other man by a few inches but his wiry frame probably was no match for Andrew’s beefy biceps. Neil deflated and began gathering up his few belongings. He pulled King out from where she had been curled into his lap under the table and buried his face in her fur to try to gain a semblance of composure.

Andrew came out around the counter and walked toward them. Neil flinched back.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Neil said. “I’ll go.”

Andrew continued to advance until he was inside Neil’s personal bubble. He held out his hand for King to sniff. “Jack, you fuckwit. I’m not throwing a cat out into the rain.”

Neil could feel his shoulders relax. “I’ll buy another tea,” he said, and then winced when he thought about his dwindling pile of spare change.

Andrew waved his hand dismissively before turning and approaching Jack. “Go in the back and clean something,” he growled.

Jack scowled but he went easily enough.

“Thank you,” Neil said.

Andrew shrugged. “Your cat is a very good girl. You’re a necessary evil. What’s her name?”

“King Fluffkins, King for short,” Neil said.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “That’s a stupid name.”

“Well you have a stupid face,” Neil shot back.

Andrew raised one eyebrow. “So tell me, why exactly is your cat in a coffee shop instead of at home.”

“That’s none of your business,” Neil snapped. “I didn’t need your help and I don’t need your pity.”

“So your story IS tragic,” Andrew smirked. “I figured, Wymack’s got us all trained up to spot a runaway from a mile off.”

“I’m not a runaway,” Neil protested.

“But you are a tragedy,” Andrew challenged him.

“No,” Neil said. But Andrew wasn’t convinced and honestly, neither was Neil.

“Fine,” Neil sighed. “My asshole landlord just evicted me.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Was it for crimes against fashion?”

Neil looked down at his t-shirt and jeans. Sure, they were a little old and faded but nothing was really wrong with them. “No? He said my cat was tearing into the garbage and wrecking things and he wouldn’t give me my damage deposit back. I think he just wanted to raise the rent on my apartment.”

“This sweet thing?” Andrew asked, gently scritching behind King’s ears. She purred and leaned into his hand before flopping bonelessly onto the table.

“Yeah. So now I’m looking for a place that accepts pets and will let me pay my damage deposit in installments.” Neil scowled down at his backpack.

“Do you have a job?” Andrew asked.

“Look, I think it’s great that you like my cat and that she likes you but that doesn’t mean I need to tell you my entire life story,” Neil raised his eyes to glare at Andrew.

Andrew narrowed his eyes and stared at Neil for another second and Neil felt as if the other man was staring straight at his soul and assessing. After a second, Andrew relaxed a tiny bit. “This is maybe a little weird and I know you have no clue who I am but I have a spare bedroom and a cat of my own so you wouldn’t need to pay a pet deposit. You could move in immediately.”

Neil couldn’t help but stare at him, mouth open. “Uh...no?”

“I’m not a creep,” Andrew said.

“Saying you’re not a creep doesn’t make you any less creepy,” Neil said. He looked out the window and was pleased to see the sun coming out from behind the clouds. He stood and began gathering his stuff together. “I’m going to go.”

Andrew shrugged and went back to the counter. Neil stepped out into the fresh smelling air and that, he thought, was that.

* * *

Hours later, Neil was regretting his hasty decision. His feet were sore and a pounding headache was building behind his eyes. King was meowing piteously from his backpack. She was fine of course. But she always knew when he was not and she was doing her best to get him to smarten up. He was counting his change again and mentally calculating how much he could dip into his savings before he absolutely would not be able to cover a month’s rent when someone pushed past him and shoved him into the wall so hard that his head smacked the bricks and his ears started ringing.

Neil slid down the wall, water from the earlier rain soaking into his jeans, and he dropped his head into his hands. He’s not sure how long he stayed there but it was long enough for King to become frantic.

A moment later, he realized someone was kicking his boot. Neil looked up and glared.

“Ah, not dead then,” Andrew stood over him.

“Following me doesn’t make you seem like any less of a creep,” Neil glared and squinted against the light.

“I’m not following you,” Andrew said. “You’re lying next to my doorway.”

Neil craned his head around. He was leaning against an old walk up with brick walls and he was less than a foot away from a silver security door and when he looked up, a panel with intercom buttons was right above his head. Andrew was jingling his keys in his hand.

“Oh,” Neil said, shaking his head to try knocking the cobwebs out. “Am I following you?”

Andrew snorted. “Look, you’re already here. Come inside and warm up. You looked awful before you bumped your head and I somehow think you don’t have a place to sleep tonight.”

Neil opened his mouth to protest, but the truth was, he didn’t.

“I’ll feed King,” Andrew said.

And Neil no longer had any reason to refuse.

Andrew didn’t offer to help him up and Neil didn’t ask. He was a little dizzy when he got to his feet but not too unsteady to walk.

Andrew’s apartment was nothing special. He had a leather couch in the living room with one arm clawed all to hell. Neil could see a moderate pile of dirty dishes through his kitchen door but otherwise the house was mainly uncluttered. A couple pictures of smiling people in bright orange uniforms were tacked up on his wall but he didn’t have any other decoration. One wall of the living room was taken up entirely by a giant cat structure and the moment King saw it she squirmed out of his arms and trotted over. 

“Shit Andrew, I’m sorry,” Neil took a few steps to go after her but Andrew held up a hand to stop him.

Neil watched as a giant orange cat materialized somewhere on the structure and met King halfway up. They sniffed noses for a few seconds and then the orange cat climbed back up a few tiers and disappeared into a hole in a box. King followed and Neil held his breath as she disappeared into the same box. Nothing happened, no yowling, no hissing, no scratching and biting, just silence and then purring at a volume too loud for just one cat to produce.

“There, King’s taken care of,” Andrew said. “Let’s deal with you.”

Neil shrunk back, thoughts that Andrew had brought him here to murder him and steal his cat running through his brain.

“I didn’t bring you here to murder you and steal your cat,” Andrew said.

It was too late though, Neil’s breath was coming quicker and in short gasps. His heart was racing and his vision was narrowing and he scrambled away from Andrew to put his back against the wall.

When he came back to himself, a broad, warm hand was pressing down on the back of his neck and grounding him in the present and his lap was full of a warm weight of grey and orange fur. Andrew wasn’t saying anything, which Neil appreciated. There was nothing worse than people rattling on, saying things they didn’t mean and couldn’t enforce because if there was one thing Neil had learned over the years, it was that things were never really okay.

Andrew let go of him and stepped back the moment Neil moved. The cats too went back to the tree and Neil started shivering in his wet jeans.

“Shower first,” Andrew said. “Door locks from the inside. There is a key but you can take it in with you.” He held out his hand toward Neil with the key in his palm.

Neil nodded and took it with shaking fingers. 

“Do you have anything to change into?” Andrew asked.

Neil shrugged but then shook his head. He had another shirt in his backpack but these were the only pants he had with him. “Landlord didn’t let me back in for my stuff,” he admitted.

Andrew’s jaw tightened but he didn’t say anything, just disappeared through one of the doorways and came back with a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a hoodie.

Neil locked the door of the bathroom and stood under the hot water until it began to grow cold. He dressed in Andrew’s clothes and came out of the bathroom to the smell of cooking pasta. His stomach grumbled and he came to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. He noticed King with her face in a dish of wet cat food and smiled softly as she ignored him completely.

“Do you need any help?” he asked Andrew.

“Hold these,” Andrew said, handing him a pair of white plates. He then dished generous helpings of pasta on each of them. He took one of them from Neil’s hand and walked into the kitchen. Andrew settled himself in the middle of the couch and Neil took a seat beside him in the unclawed corner. Andrew didn’t even look at him, just turned on the TV to a game show that Neil recognized from somewhere but had never actually sat down to watch.

He took his cue from Andrew and dug in, finally feeling warm from the inside out as the food filled him up. “This is really good,” he said.

Andrew nodded but didn’t look at him and Neil could feel himself relaxing a little further into the comfort of the couch. 

They sat in silence for a while. Andrew put his plate on the floor for the cats to lick and Neil followed suit. His eyes were drifting closed when someone pounded on the door. Neil shot up in a panic and looked at Andrew. Andrew’s face was pale.

“Play along?” he asked as the pounding grew louder and someone started shouting.

“Andrew, I know you’re in there. Let me in!” a deep male voice shouted from the hallway.

Andrew sucked in a deep breath and released it before turning the dead bolt and opening the door.

A tall man with long greasy hair pushed into the apartment past Andrew. “I knew you’d see sense,” he sneered. “I cannot wait to tear out the stupid cat tree.” He reached the living room and stopped short when he saw King climbing up to the top of the structure.

“What the hell? When I said you had to choose between me and the cat, I didn’t mean you should get a different cat. This one’s gotta go too, babe.” The man glared at Andrew as he reached up to grab King. Neil inwardly cheered as she swiped at him, clawing open the back of his hand and drawing blood.

“Dami…” Andrew’s voice broke and he started over. “Damien, I did make a choice. I chose Sir. You need to get out.”

Damien gaped at Andrew. “No,” he said. “No, you don’t get to do this. You belong to me and no fucking cat is going to change that.”

“I want my key back. I don’t want you showing up like this anymore,” Andrew’s voice wobbled a little but grew stronger as he continued.

“You little maggot. How dare you,” Damien snarled, taking a step toward Andrew. He faltered as he finally saw Neil. “Who the hell are you?”

“This is my...my,” Andrew stuttered.

“His boyfriend,” Neil said coolly. “And you are?”

“I’m his fucking boyfriend,” Damien growled. “Get the hell out of my house before I fucking make you.”

“It’s Andrew’s house,” Neil said. “And mine now. I think you’re the one who should get the fuck out.”

Damien’s eyes spit fire and he charged forward at Neil and grabbed him by the throat. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that.”

Neil choked and struggled but suddenly Damien stiffened.

“Neil’s right,” Andrew said, cold steel in his voice and in his hands. “I’ve moved on. I want my keys back and then you are leaving.”

Damien looked as if he were about to argue but Andrew pressed forward with the knife and he thought better of it.

“This one’s broken,” he said to Neil. “Doesn’t know how to love anyone but that fucking cat. You’ll get sick of him and he’ll come crawling back to me.” He held out his hand and dropped the keys on the floor before all but running out of the apartment. Andrew locked the door behind him and then practically collapsed to the floor, knife falling out of his hand.

“So,” Neil said, squatting down so he was eye level with Andrew. “Was that why you wanted me to move in?”

Andrew nodded. “It’s been coming for a long time. It was better when he had his own place but then he started moving in all his stuff and gave me the ultimatum about Sir and I knew I had to get rid of him. But he’s one of those guys who doesn’t take you seriously when you tell him he’s dumped.”

“You strike me as the sort who can take out his own trash,” Neil said.

Andrew shrugged. “I thought so too.”

“So now what?” Neil asked. “I stay for a while until Damien gives up and then I’m out again?”

Sir took that moment to break the tension by jumping onto Neil’s shoulder and throwing off his balance. He laughed, startled as he landed on his butt and Sir wound himself around Neil’s neck.

“Well, I thought so,” Andrew said. “But it looks like you’ve been adopted by my cat and I can’t say no to him.” He stood and walked over to where Damien had dropped the set of keys. He picked them up and held them out to Neil. “I’ll have to get you one for the inside door. I changed the locks. But these can be yours.”

Neil reached out his hand and Andrew dropped the comfortable weight of them in his palm. He gripped them tight, their metal edges digging in just enough to feel it. “Okay, yes,” he said. “I’ll stay.”


End file.
